Friday, September 21, 2007

It is no secret that I like Soviet stuff. When I went to Prague I delighted in staying in the Stalinist Crowne Plaza hotel pictured above. I ignored Prague's pretty European stuff which my fellow travelers from the US were enjoying and went seeking out the brutalist Sov monuments. I also liked that movie Goodbye Lenin. I obviously suffer from some weird form of Ostalgie.

Fortunately there is a cure. The Lives of Others is a superb film about life under the Stasi.
I will never be able to be quite so flip about communism again.
I unreservedly recommend this movie.
You should try and see it before there is a Hollywood remake.

I just saw this film last night at the SF Berlin & Beyond Film Festival. A stunning story. And as a German-American, it hits home in many ways. I especially like Muehe's portrayal of Wiesler as human, after all.